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Wednesday, 23 August 2006 |
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Page 3 of 3
| The acronym lovers among you will enjoy the Y-CR (Yamaha Curved Radiator) and the S-LF-SW (Super-light Five-Spoke Wheels). Another good one is the YCC-T (Yamaha Chip Controlled Throttle) or in laymen's term - Fly by Wire. There's a regular cable down to the throttle body and from there on there's a digital big brother to control all aspects of fuel injection using multiple sensors to monitor when and how you might want your power delivered. We did have a debate during our lunch/bench racing session as to whether this thing will "let" you spin up a wheel in anger. The programming possibilities for this set-up are endless especially with its sophisticated ignition. Should we expect aftermarket traction control to mate with this system soon? I hope so... Oh, before I forget, I made the first two acronym's up. |
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Other goodies? That exhaust, midship in design, is full titanium with an EXUP valve, a first in the Supersport class. It also tree huggingly clean and is good through 2007 with its EU3 EPA friendly rating. It looks MotoGP rad too, straight off the Rossi/Edwards M1. Up front, the revised intake looks very stylish offering an unobstructed passage to cool air for the revised (narrower) intakes leading to some tasty single spring Ti valves. Further thoughtfulness means that all of the nonessential parts are integrated into the bike. Come track day, you'll be able to remove the turn signals, rear licence plate holder and mirrors using just a phillips screw driver, a 10mm spanner, a beer and a deck chair - because you're going to want to be comfortable watching your wife or your wife's mum lovingly convert your bike into a track day hero. |
| I never really paid attention to the design points of this bike when I first saw it in my local Yamaha dealership. Having spent some time looking at it and seeing it in the race paddock, it's gorgeous looking. From front to rear it looks both proportionate and "right." There's various stylish and functional cooling intakes and ducts in and around the fairing. One of the few minors I could point out is the redesigned gas tank - it's slippery looking and doesn't have the hard edge like the last one did. This makes it difficult to hook a knee or thigh for high speed ear to ear body English - Stomp grips all round, please. As far as ergo's are concerned, I'm 6'1" and I didn't look or feel cramped on the thing, that's always nice. |
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| So in a nutshell, this bike won't help you get a girlfriend (although Disalvo might disagree) it won't be easy to ride, it won't be the most comfortable bike ever (it's reasonably close to last years though) and it won't help get you a promotion at work (unless your working toward a Graves ride). It will however have you loving life at a race track pace - especially when you're railing your favorite turn and your knee pucks' a-humming. The great thing about this bike is that it revs to the moon and the bad thing about this bike is that it revs to the moon.
Two thumbs up? err, I'll take a Graves blue one please.
Mike Emery
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| Specifications 2006 Yamaha R6 |
| Engine Type |
600cc, Liquid cooled, 4-stroke, forward inclined inline 4 cylinder, DOHC, 16-titanium valves |
| Bore x Stroke |
67.0 x 42.5mm |
| Compression |
Ratio 12.8:1 |
| Carburetion |
Fuel injection w/ YCCT |
| Ignition |
TCI |
| Transmission |
6-speed w/multi-plate clutch |
| Final Drive |
#525 V8 O-ring chain |
| Suspension/Front |
41mm inverted telescopic fork w/adjustable preload, separate high & low-speed compression damping, rebound damping; 4.7" travel |
| Suspension/Rear |
Single shock w/adjustable preload, separate high & low-speed compression damping, rebound damping; 4.7" travel |
| Brakes/Front |
Dual 310mm floating discs w/radial mount, forged 4-piston calipers |
| Brakes/Rear |
220mm disc w/ single-piston caliper |
| Tires/Front/Rear |
120/70-ZR17 180/55-ZR17 |
| Length |
80.3" |
| Width |
27.6" |
| Height |
43.3" |
| Seat Height |
33.5" |
| Wheelbase |
54.3" |
| Rake (Caster Angle) |
24 |
| Trail |
3.8" |
| Fuel Capacity |
4.6 gallons |
| Oil Capacity |
(with oil filter change) 3.59 qts. |
| Dry Weight |
357 lbs. |
| Warranty |
1 Year (Limited Factory Warranty) |
| MSRP |
$9,499 (50th Anniversary Yellow/Black)
$9,199 (Team Yamaha Blue/White)
$9,299 (Raven Black)
All Available from January 2006
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